1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid discharge device that discharges fluid from the nozzles of a discharge head, and to a printer and a media processing device that use the fluid discharge device.
2. Description of Related Art
Printers such as inkjet printers typically print by the print head discharging ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles.
Such printers may also have a pumping device that seals the nozzle surface of the print head with a cap and vacuums ink from the nozzles in order to unclog clogged nozzles in the print head, or a capping device that seals the nozzle surface of the print head with a cap when not printing (when in the standby mode) in order to prevent the nozzles of the print head from becoming clogged. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2006-264243.
The surface tension of the ink that is absorbed by a sponge or other absorbent material disposed inside the cap may, however, cause the ink to travel over the inside surface of the cap to an area that comes in contact with the nozzle surface. If the ink I transferred from the absorbent material 95 inside the head cap 82 travels to an area in contact with the nozzle surface 61a as shown in FIG. 12A, a film of ink I is formed between the lip 92 of the cap and the nozzle surface 61a the moment the head cap 82 separates from the nozzle surface 61a as shown in FIG. 12B. When this film then breaks, the ink I is scattered and ink droplets cling to the nozzle surface 61a as shown in FIG. 12C. More particularly, because the space inside the head cap 82 is in a vacuum state when the head cap 82 separates from the nozzle surface 61a, the film of ink I explodes into the head cap 82, and the ink I spray easily clings to the ink nozzles of the nozzle surface 61a. When ink I thus clings to an ink nozzle, it breaks the ink meniscus inside the ink nozzle and causes ink discharge problems.